Client: Nalandaway Foundation
This device is a reservoir of stories, music, poems and songs. Nalandaway envisioned reaching out to children in remote, rural schools with the ‘Fundango’ and its content, when it isn’t always possible for trained teachers to travel and conduct programmes.
Fundango can be sent to various locations with pre-loaded content and can receive more content and updates over the internet. Given the widespread digital literacy that is unique to India, it is believed that the Fundango would be accepted and operated with ease by government school teachers with very basic training.
Design Elements
The Fundango consists of a web enabled tablet at its heart, with external sound amplification and a rechargeable battery. The brief called for housing these components in an enclosure made from as much natural material as possible, while conveying a finished and modern aesthetic. Wood was the obvious choice, for this reason as well as its good acoustic properties.
The enclosure is made from sections of rolling and flat ply, the internal structure is from CNC-cut particle board; leather and fabric is used for the softer functions of shoulder-strap and speaker covers respectively.
Process
The first prototype was made without the CNC-cut frame but presented problems during assembly due to the slight variability in working with wood. Since this device would be produced in some numbers, the CNC-cut particle board skeleton was a solution to ensure that every unit would have a standard, precise frame to attach the functional components to and build the remaining enclosure around.